The use of artificial turf has become widespread, particularly in athletic activities. As more and more sports venues are covered or indoor, the use of artificial playing surfaces instead of natural grass or turf has become a necessity. While there may be a preference among athletes to play on a natural surface, the reality is that natural turf is simply not an option in many of the facilities available today. Quite often a facility must be converted from a sports field to a meeting site for a convention and the like. This requires that the playing surface for a particular sport be removable or portable. In certain multi-functional facilities such as covered domes, the facility will host various activities such as football games, musical concerts and trade shows. This requires a very short turnaround time for moving and storing an artificial surface in order to book as many events as possible. Likewise, different sports such as football and baseball may be played in the same facility, requiring a relocation of the playing surface to suit the playing field requirements.
While artificial surfaces are a necessity in many situations, the ultimate desire in most applications is that the artificial surface closely resemble natural grass in appearance and physical characteristics such as texture and color. In addition the artificial surface needs to have the resiliency of natural sod. Unfortunately, most artificial playing surfaces must be placed on hard surfaces such as concrete, so it is difficult to soften the artificial surface to approximate the feel and shock absorbency of grass growing in soil. This is a particular problem in contact sports such as football where players will fall to the ground with great impact.
Another problem with most playing surfaces is that the materials commonly used for these surfaces are plastic and highly abrasive, giving rise to a condition known commonly as “turf burn”. Likewise, the traction experienced by the athlete on an artificial surface can give rise to serious leg and knee injuries. In fact, athletes have special shoes to wear on artificial surfaces because the traction characteristics are so different from natural sod.
Therefore, it would be clearly advantageous to have a synthetic surface which closely resembled natural grass, both in appearance and physical characteristics, and which could be removed and re-installed in a relatively short time. It would also be advantageous to have a synthetic surface manufactured to suit the particular requirements of any activity, including a variety of sports or other events, which would normally be conducted outdoors.